Small size commercial and home cleaning machines of the hot water, vacuum extraction type, have come into vogue within the last few years, permitting the housewife to use either her own machine or to rent such machine from a hardware store or the like and effect wet cleaning of wall-to-wall carpeting and the like and in effective and thorough manner previously unobtainable except by expensive, large size commercial equipment.
Such hot water vacuum extraction cleaners are the subject matter of my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,521 issuing July 29, 1975, and entitled "Home Cleaning System".
The hot water, vacuum extraction cleaner of the referred to patent comprises a modified rectangular body mounted on wheels for manual movement over the surface being cleaned and bearing side by side upright tanks, the first of which holds the cleaning liquid which is heated by a suitable heater and which is connected by means of a hose and pump to a hot water spray nozzle fixed to a generally V-shaped vacuum recovery head. The head forms a V-shaped chamber whose apex side is remote from the surface being cleaned and which opens to the interior of a tubular wand comprising both a handle and a return flow path for the dirty liquid which is sucked from the floor by application of vacuum pressure through the wand and to the V-shaped chamber of the vacuum recovery head. The vacuum recovery head is open on its lower side, that is, remote from the apex portion of the recovery head, thereby defining a narrow elongated rectangular mouth which is maintained in contact with the floor, carpeting or other surface being cleaned. The operator, by forcibly propelling the wand, causes the vacuum recovery head to traverse the surface being cleaned. The nozzle is fixed to the side of the recovery head and sprays hot cleaning liquid or water against the surface being cleaned and adjacent the elongated mouth of the recovery head. The air and dirty water returning through the wand after pick up by the vacuum recovery head is discharged into the second of the two tanks within the cleaner body, the second tank known as the "dump tank" and being readily removable from the body such that, after accumulation of the dirty liquid therein, it may be readily dumped. The air is separated from the air and water return within the dump tank, and the tank is maintained under vacuum pressure by connection through a tank riser tube to the vacuum blower or pump mounted within the body and beneath the "dump tank".
While such vacuum hot water extraction cleaning systems, as set forth in the patent, have worked quite satisfactorily, it has been determined that a more effective removal of dirt, particularly from a surface where the dirt is highly entrained, as for instance in wall to wall carpeting is achieved if there is a beating or forced brushing of that surface being cleaned adjacent the point of impact of the hot water or heated cleaning liquid. This need has lead to the development of a power scrubber in the form of an assembly including a horizontally oriented, elongated scrubbing brush roller mounted within a housing with the periphery of the brush roller in contact with the surface being scrubbed, and with the vacuum recovery head and the heated liquid cleaner or hot water spray nozzle incorporated within the assembly. Such a power scrubber is the subject matter of my U.S. application Ser. No. D-897,607 filed Apr. 18, 1978.
In the power scrubber of the above identified design application the vacuum recovery head is essentially identical to that of my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,521. However, instead of that vacuum recovery head, supporting the heated liquid or hot water spray nozzle, the nozzle is mounted to a wheeled chassis remote from the location of the vacuum recovery head and in fact adjacent the rear face of the power brush housing, with the vacuum extraction head fixed to the chassis and being positioned and extending along the front of the power brush housing.
While this assembly provides the beating or powered brush application to the localized area of the surface being scrubbed, such as the wall to wall carpeting, all of the elements are fixedly mounted to the chassis, and the elements are maintained in constant height relation to the surface being scrubbed such that if an obstruction is encountered or where for one reason or another, the plane of vacuum application to the surface being scrubbed needs to be shifted vertically or possibly inclined, as defined by the mouth of the vacuum recovery head, the fixed nature of the assembly set forth in the above identified design application precludes in some cases effective use of the power scrubber.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved power scrubber in which the vacuum recovery head has some flexibility in terms of its position relative to the scrubbing brush roller such that the presence of the vacuum recovery head does not unduly restrict applications of use of the power scrubber.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved power scrubber in which the vacuum recovery head is pivotably mounted to the scrubber powered brush housing to permit selectively, the recovery head to be pivoted and thereby raise the mouth of the recovery head to meet variations in the continuity of the surface being scrubbed.